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I hear numerous writers speak on finding the motivation from within to write everyday because lets face it there will be days where you don’t feel like writing a damn thang.

What I wanna talk about is deeper than just having a bad day and deciding not to write. Let me ask you this, does your life outside of writing (i.e. relationships, friendships, job or lack thereof one, etc) effect how you view your writing? Now I know some of you are putting on your holier than thou pants saying you’re not a real writer if you allow your life situations to effect how you view or approach your writing. To you who think that go sit down somewhere, this post will be for my real people. If you haven’t noticed I’ve slacked on writing especially on this blog. To be honest it’s been because of my current situation. I’m not going to go into descriptive detail about what’s been going on but just know it was bad enough in my eyes to make me not feel the joy of storytelling. Call it me being depressed because when a person is they don’t feel like doing those simple joys of life. My question is can life change how you view your writing? Yes it can. I wish I can tell you differently but I gotta keep it 100. When you can’t feed your family, it effects how you view your writing. When there is a close death you question it. You get what I’m saying?

Have my situation changed? Obviously, if I’m writing again I feel slightly bad for letting it get to that point but my best advice is sometimes you have to step back and re-evaluate your shit until that passion comes back in a full fledge hustlin’ mode. You will be doing your fans a favor. They can tell when you’re not passionate about yours.

Like this:

It’s easy to make an excuse not to write: my kids are working my nerves, too tired, too many other ish to do, no motivation, not good enough, I could go on but you get the idea.

Contrary to popular believe getting back into writing isn’t necessarily as easy as getting on a bike you haven’t rode in years and feeling like you never took a break. The ideas may not disappear but the technicality of it will. It’s frustrating when you are working on a novel and pause writing for a day, or two, or five then try to hop back up in it and you are not feeling it on any level. How can you prevent that from happening? Here are three suggestions that are the best to prevent a situation like this:

Always write no matter how silly it sounds. This means every day. Even if it’s for 5 minutes while you’re on the toilet, (ay you gotta do what you gotta do!) write. And don’t worry if it doesn’t sound perfect, it’s just a way to keep your juices flowing consistently. You never know what might come out of that crazy mind of yours.

Write when you don’t feel like it. I still have problems with this. Sometimes my kids work my last nerves so I don’t write. I regret it in the morning trust me. That’s a missed opportunity to finish whatever project I’m working on. As difficult as it sounds you need to write through those times. The my man just left me time, the my day was too hectic time, the I have no motivation time. Keep that pen always in your hand. Use my mantra, write the pain away.

Read. Read a lot! Reading keeps you motivated and interested in writing. It also prevents you from getting rusty in your writing. In order to get better in writing read other authors, it can improve your own skills and style. You can’t be a great writer without being a great reader.

Take these 3 suggestions and keep them around your work area so you don’t fall out of your passion. Someone once told me that it takes 21 days to make a habit. If you consistently write for 21 days writing will come as easy as brushing your teeth. Does this help?

Unfortunately I don’t anymore. My favorite was Borders and they had the audacity to close up shop on me. But I digress.

Anywho…several authors are coming together and collaborating on a book that will be called My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read and Shop. Over 80 writers will give their personal choices on the subject. It will be almost like your own personal chop it up session with people you admire. The cover is adorable, it’s cartoonish with tall books stacked next to each other then a small bookstore is nestled in the mix of it. This will be released on November 13th. What bookstore do you sit in and get your motivations from? Do you prefer the big conglomerates like Barnes and Noble or a cozy indie store? Let me know, I would love to go check your spots out.

The 2012 Reading Challenge is well under way already and so far over 76,000 readers have committed to reading a certain amount of books for this year. Let me rewind for a sec.

GoodReads has a Reading Challenge for die hard readers. If you go onto their site you can join GoodReads and then state how many books you are willing to read for this year. No there is no grand prize if your read more than others, the point is to broaden your literary horizons and enjoy reading again. There are so many available books out there. Take advantage.

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I don’t know if I’ve ever told you but growing up as a black aspiring writer there were no avenues where I could look up to other black writers. School was not really supportive of ‘us’ wanting to pursue a career in writing. I love when I hear programs assisting YA authors to pursue their dreams I feel only obligated to tell you about it.

A writing community that goes by the name Figment was created with the YA writer and reader in mind. Figment knows that writer’s block happen and that sometimes we need a little push to write on a regular basis. To help with disciplining ourselves they have created writing prompts. The various prompts will be about creating characters, setting, dialogue, personal essays, verses and more. This free (yes I said free) email service has already started and will end March 30th. This is great since teens are known for having way too much time on their hands and distancing themselves

Image via Wikipedia

from reading anything other than text messages. Take advantage, if anything it will help with reading and writing scores in school. Go check them out.

I’ve slacked this year! Compared to what I wanted to achieve for 2011 I haven’t did a damn thang. I was all over the place writing everyday but not producing anything out of those intense writing sessions so for 2012 I’ve decided to go back to my basics and stick to one project at a time and don’t start another one until I’ve seen the current project done ya feel me? I have been really thinking about what I am trying to accomplish with the brand I am attempting to create and what I need to do to get from point A to point B.

How the hell do you make a successful brand anyway?

Shit I don’t know but I will find out if it kills me. Ain’t that what 50 Cent said? Oh…that was ‘get rich or die trying’ tomato, toe-mah-to! I am more in-tuned to what I

Image via Wikipedia

put on my social networks. I changed my cover pic on FB which I am glad FB redid the format so it looks more like a personal website. My cover to me is bananas! It reflects what I love, what I am about. People’s attention span is short as hell so first impressions are important. I need people to know what I’m about right off the jump. I may not have the blueprint to creating that monster brand yet but I do know that you need to be more aware of what you put out there. When someone sees your name what will they think? Will you put your stamp on your shit if you were a person looking in? If you pause to think of your answer well that is your answer.

Writer’s envy

Lately I’ve been kind of jealous of other writers I’ve been seeing. I see them networking and getting a better response than what I am getting and I’m wondering what the hell am I doing wrong? I’m not jealous to the point where I am hateful but it do get under my skin a tad bit – enough to notice. Instead of sitting in a corner with my screwface on I’m using my little jealous spat as motivation. They had to start somewhere too, right?

I do know that you get what you put out and I realize that I am my worst critic. I need to blaze that fire under my ass and get this shit crackin’. You will see Talia aka Mz. Diamondz in 2012 (God willing of course! You hear that Big Guy, lol)